ENTOMOLOGY 407 



quiet, remaining in the hive all winter, except for short flights on 

 warm days. When the main honey flow is over, the drones are 

 usually driven from the hive. By that time the virgin queens have 

 been mated and drones are of no further use. They are not usually 

 stung to death, but are merely carried or driven from the hive by 

 the workers and starve. A colony of bees which for any reason is 

 without a queen does not expel the drones. 



Many abnormal conditions may arise in the activity of a colony, 

 and it is therefore necessary for the bee keeper to understand most 

 of these, so that when they occur he may overcome them. If a 

 virgin queen is prevented from mating she generally dies, but occa- 

 sionally begins to lay eggs after about four weeks. In this event, 

 however, all of the eggs which develop become males. Such a queen 

 is commonly called a drone-layer. If the virgin queen is lost while 

 on her flight or the colony at any other time is left queenless without 

 means of rearing additional queens, it sometimes happens that some 

 of the workers oegin to lay eggs. These eggs also develop only 

 into drones. It also happens at times that when a queen becomes 

 old her supply of spermatozoa is exhausted, at which time her eggs 

 also develop only into drones. These facts are the basis of the 

 theory that the drone of the bee is developed from an unferti- 

 lized egg. 



The work of the hive is very nicely apportioned among the 

 inmates, so that there is little lost effort. As has been stated, the 

 rearing of young is accomplished by having one individual to lay 

 eggs and numerous others (immature females) to care for the larvae. 

 In like manner all work of the colony is apportioned. In general, 

 it may be stated that all inside work wax building, care of brood, 

 and cleaning is done by the younger workers, those less than 17 

 days old, while the outside work of collecting pollen and nectar to be 

 made into honey is done by the older workers. This plan may be 

 changed by special conditions. For example, if the colony has been 

 queenless for a time and a queen is then given, old workers may 

 begin the inside work of feeding larvae and these may also secrete 

 wax. Or, if the old workers are all removed, the younger bees may 

 begin outside work. As a rule, however, the general plan of divi- 

 sion of labor according to age is followed rather closely. 



Directions for General Manipulations. Bees should be handled 

 so that they will be little disturbed in their work. As much as pos- 

 sible, stings should be avoided during manipulation. This is true 

 not so much because they are painful to the operator, but because 

 the odor of poison which gets into the air irritates the other bees 

 and makes them more difficult to manage. For this reason it is 

 most advisable to wear a black veil over a wide-brimmed hat and to 

 have a good smoker. Experienced bee keepers often dispense with 

 these, but the beginner should not. Gloves, however, are usually 

 more an inconvenience than otherwise. Gauntlets or rubber bands 

 around the cuffs keep the bees from crawling up the sleeve. It is 

 best to avoid black clothing, since that color seems to excite bees; a 

 black felt hat is especially to be avoided. 



